Levels of Mercury and Lead in Blood and Hair of Autistic Children in Tripoli

Abstract

Background There are many published studies related to environmental pollutants Mercury and Lead to autism in children. One of the most environmental factors that have received significant attention is the burden of mercury, lead, and other toxic metals. However there are no studies in Libya about the levels of heavy metals in blood and hair of autistic children. Objectives This study is to investigate and compare the levels of environment pollutants Lead and Mercury in blood and hair of autistic children in Tripoli. Methods Randomly selected autistic children (males=49, females=11), born between 2000 and 2010 with average age 6.2 years old, attending an autism rehabilitation center in Tripoli, consent form had signed with the parents to take blood and hair sample in Bioscientia laboratory in Tripoli in July 2013 then samples were sent to Germany main lab to be tested using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results 75 percent of male children had high readings of mercury in blood compared with females whose percentages were 13. Only 8 percent of cases had high lead blood levels. With regard to hair samples, 2 percent of male children showed high mercury levels and 27 percent showed high lead levels; while in female children zero percent had high mercury levels and 3 percent had high lead levels. Conclusion On this study autistic children have shown variable high levels of mercury and lead in their body content that calls for further investigational studies. Key words: environmental pollutants, autism, mercury, lead, heavy metals, blood and hair.